Safety concerns are being raised after an incident this week at a Nova Scotia courthouse.
Shortly after 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Halifax Regional Police were called to Dartmouth provincial court after a 37-year-old woman was allegedly assaulted by a 65-year-old man.
The female victim is a legal aid lawyer. The man who allegedly assaulted her, was her client.
Few details are being released, however, the whole incident took place inside a courtroom before sheriffs intervened.
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No one from the Nova Scotia Department of Justice was made available Thursday for an interview on the alleged assault. However, Sarah Gillis, a spokesperson for the department, released the following statement to Global News:
“The safety and security of those who visit and work in our court houses is our top priority. We can confirm that an incident took place at the Dartmouth provincial court earlier this week. We were sorry to learn of the incident and thank the sheriffs who were able to intervene quickly. The incident is currently under review to ensure we fully understand what took place so that we can help prevent something similar from happening again in the future.”
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Perry Borden, a senior Crown prosecutor and president of the Nova Scotia Crown Attorneys’ Association, is speaking out following the incident.
“Unfortunately, we’re sort of conditioned that given the lay of the land in criminal courts that it’s almost to be expected. Something generally happens every few months in criminal court. If it doesn’t make the media or make the headlines for that matter doesn’t say that it doesn’t happen,” he said.
According to Borden, courtroom security is an ongoing issue.
“We’ve had instances where Crowns were threatened, where Crowns have been punched, they’ve been spat upon. So not recent concerns, but ongoing concerns,” he said.
“I’ve been in court where it was a homicide file where a disruption occurred and the police are containing the audience and it was myself who was left to [sort of] confine the accused.”
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Borden would like to see improvements made to courthouse security, not just at Dartmouth provincial court but at courthouses across the province.
“The concern that I think metro faces in particular is that we are in need of a bail court if you will, where we have people who are denied bail or held for bail appearances, they’re coming through a segregated entrance where they’re within the court but separated from the court. I think that would alleviate a lot of concerns from both from the Crown perspective and also the civilian perspective for that matter,” he said.
Borden would also like to see a barrier put in place inside courtrooms which would separate an accused person from the rest of the staff and spectators.
“Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Manitoba are the only jurisdictions I’m aware of that don’t have a docket spot for accused persons who are in cells to appear through,” he said.
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Megan Longley, the executive director of Nova Scotia Legal Aid, would not speak about the specific incident at Dartmouth provincial court this week.
When asked about safety in the courtroom and the idea of a barrier or a prisoner dock for accused persons, Longley replied, “I personally, as a long-standing criminal practitioner, am not in favour of things like prisoners docks. I do think that thankfully these incidents are quite rare in this province. Improvements can always be made, but I hope any decisions and changes are considered and thoughtful as opposed to a quick reaction or overreaction to one incident.”
At this point, Halifax police say their investigation remains ongoing and no charges have been laid.
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